


Reminder

by tinkertoysdamn



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Episode Related, Kink Meme, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 19:51:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/752393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinkertoysdamn/pseuds/tinkertoysdamn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p> McCoy reflects on a small teddy bear found on a doomed planet.  A response to the Ship Wars Prompt 2 “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone.”  Also inspired by the Star Trek episode “Miri.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reminder

**Author's Note:**

> beta: euphonious-glow

The teddy bear sat propped up on Dr. McCoy’s bed.It was worn, its mangy brown fur barely clinging to its form with one solid black button eye staring out from its tired face.The stuffed toy’s head drooped forward, as if waiting for someone long gone.

Spock stared at the forlorn creature, puzzled.“Leonard, did you bring this from the planet’s surface?”

Leonard looked up from the amber liquid in his glass with an exhausted gaze.“And if I did?”

“The colony had been engaged in biological warfare for some time.There are still contaminants on the surface that could pose a health risk to the crew,” Spock explained. 

The doctor looked as if he was about to snap but just settled into a weary sigh instead.“I already put it through quarantine, the teddy bear poses no threat to life or limb.”He took a sip of his brandy as if to say “end of discussion.”

Spock took the few steps necessary to cross the room into Leonard’s space.He placed his hand on top of McCoy’s to cover the glass.“You are upset.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow at the contact and the statement.“And how long did it take that computerized brain of yours to work this out?”

The Vulcan gently removed the whiskey glass and set it on the table.He took both of McCoy’s hands in his, cradling them in warmth.Spock did not normally indulge himself in this, saving tactile contact for intimate situations, but the doctor had been withdrawn ever since they beamed up from the planet.

He could feel dark emotions stirring in McCoy that were difficult to understand.Leonard stared at their entwined fingers; he knew that Spock was feeling the residuals of his own feelings.“Tell me,” Spock said. 

“I don’t know where to start,” McCoy answered.It was an honest answer, if not satisfactory.“You know how there’s always a difference in thinking about something in the abstract and then actually seeing it?We had heard about this colony, what was done to it and what people did to each other.We had meetings to discuss procedure including that quarantine you’re so fond of, but nothing can prepare you for actually seeing it.”

Leonard trailed off, his blue eyes distant, remembering.“There’s a difference between hearing that thousands, maybe millions were murdered and seeing a pile of shoes that once belonged to the victims.There’s a difference between hearing the numbers and seeing the things they left behind.It’s easy to hide behind statistics, but it’s hard to flee from your senses.From the touch, the taste, the feel of events long gone.”

He pointed at the bear.“That once belonged to a little girl.”

“How do you know?” Spock asked 

“There’s a small tag sown in the back.It has a little girl’s name,” McCoy said.“A little girl long dead from a war they could have prevented.”

Spock could feel the other man’s agitation rising.Perhaps if he directed Leonard’s emotions elsewhere--“That’s not necessarily true.”

“Isn’t it?”Leonard jerked his hands away and stood up.He paced around the room, his emotional state transferring into nervous energy.“You saw the records, they could have resolved the problem easily if they just listened to each other.Instead they make a weapon that kills every living thing within a ten-mile radius.It’s been decades and nothing still grows, Spock.How is this logical?How does this make sense?What could they possibly have been fighting about that was worth that little girl’s life?”

The anger was pouring out of Leonard now, his helplessness agonizing.It was in moments like these that Spock wished he were more like his mother.She always seemed to know how to diffuse Spock’s anxieties, how to express her sympathies and help another.But Spock was not like his mother, he was Vulcan and his tools were limited.

“Why did you take the bear, Leonard?” he asked.

The doctor deflated at the question, his rage dwindling, only to be replaced by sorrow.He sat back down; shoulders slumped.“As a reminder, Spock, that all things are transitory.That when you stop thinking about other people, that when you stop thinking that they have hopes, dreams and feelings, that you can do anything to them.Any terrible thing that comes to your mind.”Leonard’s blue eyes were glistening, but no tears fell.“I want to remind myself never to be that person.”

In that moment, Spock understood what he needed to do.“You never could: it is against your nature.You feel too much, Leonard, for yourself and for others.You are diligent in your quest to save all life, even at the cost of your own.”

Spock held out his index and pointer fingers in a gesture well known and well loved.“That is why I cherish you.”

He waited patiently as McCoy processed this.The silence was an acknowledgement that the older man was listening.

“Really, Spock?”Leonard looked doubtful but touched his fingers to the Vulcan’s all the same.The comfort Spock radiated soothed his soul.He let out a wry smile.“Sometimes you’ve just got to let a man wallow in his misery. 

Spock raised his other hand to cup McCoy’s cheek.“Even if it has no reasonable cause?”

Leonard turned to kiss the palm.“Empathy for another being is never an unreasonable cause.”

“Understood.”Spock moved his hand to cradle the back of the doctor’s neck.His long fingers stroked the soft brown hair at the nape.“What will you do with the toy?”

Leonard took the hint and leaned forward to kiss the Vulcan.It was soft and gentle, nothing passionate, just the comfort that one gives to another.“Maybe on another planet I’ll find some other little girl, one who needs a teddy bear.”

“Why would a child want a damaged toy?”

Leonard just stared at him through half-lidded eyes, “Spock, everyone deserves to be loved.”

 


End file.
